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SCOUTING:AN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

World Organizationof the Scout MovementOrganisation Mondialedu Mouvement Scout

STHIS DOCUMENT I S A

S T R A T E G YPART OF THE IMPLEMEN-TATION OF THE STRATEGY

World Scout BureauP.O. Box 241,1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland

[email protected]://www.scout.org

© Copyright 1998, World Scout Bu-reau. Reprinted 1998.Reproduction is authorized to nationalScout associations which are membersof the World Organization of the ScoutMovement. Others should request per-mission from publishers.

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION page 1WHAT IS SCOUTING? page 3

WHAT DOES SCOUTING SEEK TO ACHIEVE? page 7

WHAT IS SCOUTING’S APPROACH TO EDUCATION? page 11

WHAT IS THE SCOUT METHOD? page 13

THE SCOUT LAW AND PROMISE page 15

LEARNING BY DOING page 21

THE TEAM SYSTEM (OR PATROL SYSTEM) page 25

A SYMBOLIC FRAMEWORK page 33

NATURE page 41

PERSONAL PROGRESSION page 47

ADULT SUPPORT page 57

CONCLUSION page 61

Scouting: An Educational System - Page 1

“Scouting: An educational system” is intendedto help everyone interested in gaining a greaterunderstanding of how Scouting works as aneducational system. It is intended for use bythose responsible for ensuring that the Scout-ing offered to young people is the rich andmulti-faceted learning experience that it ismeant to be. It has been written as a tool forthe Youth Programme and Adult Resourcesteams at national level, but it is hoped that itcan be of use for all those at other levels whodo their best to provide support to Scout lead-ers.

A large proportion of the publication is de-voted to the Scout Method in particular be-cause it is the Scout Method that encapsulatesScouting’s educational system as it is experi-enced by young people. The publication at-tempts to explain each of the elements of theScout Method and to illustrate how they inter-act and complement each other as a system.

The section on the Scout Method provides in-formation on how each element is meant tohelp to stimulate the development of the youngperson. It offers ideas, without any attempt atproviding an exhaustive list, on areas that aYouth Programme development or reviewgroup should look at when examining how tomake the Scout Method as effective as possi-ble. It also provides ideas on tools that can

help Scout leaders in their work, as well asthe kind of support they are likely to need.Finally, this section examines how each of theelements translates from the theoretical levelinto the practical level in the Scout unit1.

For detailed information on a step-by-step ap-proach to Youth Programme development(whether your Scout association is in the proc-ess of developing a Youth Programme for thefirst time, or whether the Youth Programme isbeing reviewed), the World Scout Bureau hasproduced a series of publications entitled “AGuide to Programme Development”. Anotherpublication, “Scouting in practice: Ideas forScout leaders”, is intended to present the ba-sics of what Scout leaders need to know inorder to practise Scouting.

INTRODUCTION

1 Throughout this document, “Scout unit” is used in a generic sense,referring to the youth members of an age section and the adult leaderoperating together in a locality, e.g. a pack, a troop, or a unit. “Team” isalso used in its generic sense, when referring to the local level, to denotethe smaller groups of 6-8 young people within the Scout unit, e.g. patrol.

Scouting: An Educational System


Its principles

Wherever they may be, members are activelycommitted to the principles (i.e. the values)on which Scouting is founded, which form boththe basis of the code of ethics which governsthe Movement as a whole and a personal codeof living to which each member adheres. Theseprinciples are about a person’s active and con-structive commitment to the spiritual values oflife, to society and to oneself.

Its method

All members are equally committed to the wayin which Scouting seeks to help young peo-ple to develop - through Scouting’s uniquemethod of progressive self-education. TheScout Method is a comprehensive educationalframework composed of elements which worktogether as a system to provide young peoplewith a rich and active learning environment. Itis based on how young people naturally de-velop, taking into account their evolving char-acteristics, needs and interests at differentstages of development.

A MOVEMENT OF SELF-EDUCATION FOR YOUNGPEOPLE

Scouting is a movement of self-education foryoung people. The Scout Movement comprisesnational Scout organisations to which the in-dividual members belong. The individual mem-bers are the young people that Scouting servesand adults who join in order to contribute tothe development of Scouting’s youth members.

The unity of the Movement is ensured by theWorld Organization of the Scout Movementwhich serves recognised national Scout organi-sations.

Its purpose

All over the world, members of the World Or-ganization of the Scout Movement are unitedby a common, active commitment to Scout-ing’s purpose which is to help young peopleto develop their full physical, intellectual, emo-tional, social and spiritual capacities as indi-viduals and as members of society, and thuscontribute to the development of a betterworld.

WHAT IS SCOUTING?


Together, Scouting’s purpose, principles andmethod form the essence of Scouting’s educa-tional system, i.e. they are the foundation onwhich Scouting is based all over the world.

In order for the Movement to achieve its edu-cational goals, the Movement as a whole mustprovide the global conditions for this to hap-pen. Thus the Scout Movement is also charac-terised by the fact that it is:

A movement for young people, especially suitedfor adolescents

Scouting exists for the benefit of young peo-ple. While Scouting’s educational system is par-ticularly suited for the adolescent age range,the upper age limit depends on factors whichdefine what “youth” means from an educa-tional perspective within a particular cultureand society.

In general terms, the upper age limit wouldnormally correspond to a general level of ma-turity at which a person no longer needs Scout-ing’s structured educational approach in or-der to continue the process of self-education.

The lower limit corresponds to a minimumlevel of maturity required for Scouting’s edu-cational system to function and thus for youngpeople to benefit from it. Evidently, these lev-

els of maturity can only approximately bemeasured by age, but would normally corre-spond to a few years either side of the seconddecade of life.

A movement of young people, supported by adults

The young people in the Movement are sup-ported by adults, whose role is to facilitateand provide the necessary conditions for thedevelopment of the youth members. As mem-bers of a movement of self-education, and ina spirit of partnership with adults, young peo-ple participate in the decision-making proc-esses of the Movement, in ways which are ap-propriate to their level of maturity, skills andexperience, so as to ensure the relevance ofwhat Scouting offers to them.

Open to all

Membership of the Scout Movement is opento anyone who agrees to adhere to its educa-tional proposal (i.e. its purpose, principles andmethod); in other words it does not discrimi-nate against anyone because of his or her reli-gion, ethnic origin, social background or gen-der.

Voluntary

Scouting is voluntary. All members - youngpeople and supporting adults - join of theirown free will. There is no compulsion to join

the Scout Movement, nor to remain a mem-ber. Scouting is not like school, at which at-tendance is usually compulsory between cer-tain ages.

Every member - young or adult - who doeschoose to join is required to make a personalcommitment to the Scout Movement. First andforemost, this commitment is to respect andact according to the code of ethics inherent inthe fundamental principles of the Movement.

More globally, this voluntary commitment alsoextends to achieving the educational purposeof Scouting, as every member commits him orherself to the educational proposal of the na-tional Scout association to which he or shebelongs. For youth members, this commitmentconcerns their own personal development. Foradults, this commitment is to help provide theconditions necessary for young people to de-velop.

Non-political

Scouting is non-political, in the sense that it isnot involved in the struggle for power of partypolitics. At the same time, Scouting’s educa-tional system aims to help young people tobe, and develop as, responsible and construc-tive individuals and members of society. Youngpeople cannot do so in a vacuum, divorced


from the socio-political realities of the worldin which they live.

Scouting’s educational approach, therefore,encourages young people to develop their ownpowers of judgment, and to take an active andconstructive role in society which is in har-mony with the values for which Scoutingstands.

Independent

While the Movement works in partnership witha number of outside bodies and receives sup-port from benefactors all over the world, Scout-ing, at all levels, is independent in the senseof being free from control by any outside bodyor individual.

Complementary to other forms of education

Scouting is a non-formal educational move-ment. In other words, it is not part of the for-mal educational system (school, etc.), nor is itinformal (friends, media, etc.) as it does offera structured approach to education. Scoutingdoes not seek to reproduce what school, fam-ily, religious institutions, leisure clubs, etc., arealready offering young people. It seeks to com-plement what others are doing by helping tofill gaps that may not be being met by others.

Relevant to young people

Scouting seeks to be relevant to young peoplein the various socio-cultural environments inwhich they grow up, and to continuously ad-just to meet the needs of young people in arapidly changing world.

As a movement, this is one of our greatestchallenges: continuously adjusting so as to beeven more relevant to young people’s aspira-tions and needs while remaining faithful toScouting’s purpose, principles and method.

Being able to determine what is essential andinvariable from what is not essential and vari-able is not easy for newly constituted Scoutassociations who are considering this issue forthe first time. The task is not an easy one ei-ther for Scout associations that have existedfor decades, some for almost a century, steepedin rich memories of “the way things have al-ways been done”.

“Here are some of the things that Scout-ing is not:

• it is not a charity organisation forpeople in society to run for the benefit ofthe poor children;

• it is not a school having a definitecurriculum and standards of achieve-ment;

• it is not a brigade of officers andprivates for drilling manliness into boysand girls;

• it is not a show where surface resultsare gained through payment as meritbadges, medals, etc.;

These all come from without, whereas theScout training all comes from within.”

- “Aids to Scoutmastership”, Baden-Powell, 1919 edition.


WHAT DOES SCOUTINGSEEK TO ACHIEVE?

“Education is at the heart of both per-sonal and community development; itsmission is to enable each of us, withoutexception, to develop all our talents to thefull and to realize our creative potential,including responsibility for our own livesand achievement of our personal aims.”

- “Learning: The Treasure Within”, Report to UNESCO of theInternational Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century,1996.

“EDUCATION? BUT THAT IS SCHOOL!”

Scouting is an educational movement for youngpeople. However, “education” means differ-ent things to different people. In everyday lan-guage in some parts of the world, education isprimarily associated, at its most basic level,with learning to read, write and master basicarithmetic and, on a higher level, with gainingacademic knowledge and vocational skillsthrough school, university, and so on.

In Scouting, however, education is consideredin its broad sense as being the process throughwhich each of us develops our various capa-bilities throughout life, both as an individualand as a member of society.

The aim of education, in this broad sense, isto contribute to the full development of anautonomous2, supportive, responsible andcommitted person.

A DEFINITION OF EDUCATION:

A life-long process which enables the continuous development ofa person’s capacities both as an individual and as a member ofsociety.

THE GOAL OF EDUCATION:

To contribute to the full development of an autonomous, support-ive, responsible and committed individual.

Autonomous:

able to make one’s own decisions and to manage one’slife.

Supportive:

able to actively care about and for others.

Responsible:

able to assume the consequences of one’s decisions,to keep one’s commitments and to complete what oneundertakes.

Committed:

able to live according to one’s values, to support causesor an ideal which one finds important.

2 The term “autonomy”, like education, often means different things todifferent people. In an educational context it means being able to makeup one’s own mind (as opposed to, for example, blindly copying one’speers) and to manage one’s life (for example, being able to manageone’s time). Autonomy here does not mean total independence, nor doesit imply being self-centred.


THE PURPOSE OF SCOUTING

According to Scouting’s educational philoso-phy, each person is born with a unique po-tential which can be developed in a construc-tive direction.

Making this potential a reality involves devel-oping all of one’s capacities - physical, intel-lectual, emotional, social and spiritual - in thedirection of the goals to be achieved.

Evidently, as education is the work of a life-time, Scouting cannot fully develop anyone’spotential in all areas. Scouting can simply ac-company each Scout, for a time, along thatperson’s path of development and help eachperson to develop the inner resources he orshe will need to continue to develop withoutScouting’s help. After all, if Scouting were acrutch on which people relied all their lives, itwould certainly have failed in what it is tryingto achieve.

Scouting, therefore, simply seeks to make acontribution to this process of self-educationduring the years when a person can truly ben-efit from its structured educational supportsystem. The age range for which Scouting canmost benefit young people corresponds ap-proximately to the second decade of life.

By encouraging young people to use and de-velop all of their capacities in a constructiveway today, Scouting seeks to help young peo-ple to realise that they have within themselveswhat it takes to already make a difference - totheir own lives and to the world in which theylive.

As they become ready to expand their hori-zons and seek new challenges, Scouting helpsthem to use their experience and to furtherdevelop their capacities to live and grow asfulfilled individuals and as active and construc-tive members of society.

Whether or not a person will actually developthat potential depends, amongst other factors,on the presence of a supportive, structuredenvironment during the formative years whichstimulates the young person to bring out ofhim or herself - and develop - what is con-structive, to the detriment of what is destruc-tive. Scouting seeks to offer young people suchan environment.

A CONSTRUCTIVE DIRECTION: SCOUTING’SPRINCIPLES

Every movement - or organised body, for thatmatter - has a number of fundamental beliefswhich underlie the purpose of its existence,orient what it seeks to achieve and how it goesabout achieving its goals.

As an educational movement, Scouting clearlyhas a social responsibility: to the young peo-ple it serves, to the families who entrust theircherished youngsters to Scouting’s care andto the world at large.

The goals of education are clear: to developas an autonomous, supportive, responsible andcommitted individual and member of society.

“The aim of development is the com-plete fulfilment of man, in all therichness of his or her personality, thecomplexity of his or her forms ofexpression and his or her variouscommitments - as individual, memberof a family and of a community,citizen and producer, inventor oftechniques and creative dreamer.”

-- ”Learning: The Treasure Within”, Report to UNESCO of theInternational Commission on Education for the Twenty-firstCentury, 1996.


However, there must be clear guidelines whichorient the development of the young persontowards these goals.

It is Scouting’s principles (generally referredto as “Duty to self”, “Duty to others” and “Dutyto God”) which provide these guidelines. Theyare the basis of the value system which gov-erns the Movement as a whole. These princi-ples, therefore, give direction to Scouting’seducational policy as a Movement, to the edu-cational approach used with young people andto the way in which the elements of the ScoutMethod are used so as to give constructiveand coherent direction to the development ofthe young person.

Duty to self

Each person has a duty to develop one’s au-tonomy and assume responsibility for oneself.This includes:

• taking responsibility for one’s own develop-ment (physical, intellectual, emotional, socialand spiritual);

• striving to live life in a way which respectsoneself as a person (e.g. taking care of one’shealth, standing up for one’s rights as a hu-man being, making decisions that one feelsdeep inside are right for oneself as a person,etc.).

Being able to do so presupposes striving toget to know oneself better in all the richnessand complexity that characterizes each per-son with strengths and weaknesses, hopes,needs, and so on.

Duty to others

In broad terms, this is one’s responsibility to-wards everything material that is not oneself.This means:

• recognising and taking into account in theway in which one lives one’s life that one isnot the only important person on this earth,that each person has rights, feelings, hopes,needs, etc.;

• recognising that people are interdependent,i.e. no one can live in isolation from others.Everyone needs relationships with others inorder to fulfil themselves as persons and every-one can benefit from the contribution that eachperson makes to the world.

Each person, therefore, has a responsibilitytowards others. This involves:

• respecting each person’s dignity;

• playing an active and constructive role insociety and making a personal contribution toit;

• helping out in times of need and defendingthe defenceless, whether they are one’s next-door neighbour or whether they live in a verydifferent environment at the other end of theworld.

• recognising and taking into account, in theway in which one lives one’s life, the integrityof the natural world.

Duty to God

Each person has a responsibility to search be-yond what is material for a force higher thanmankind. This involves seeking:

• a Spiritual Reality that gives meaning anddirection to one’s life; and

• to discover meaning in spiritual values andto live one’s daily life in accordance with thesevalues.

When these three simple principles are trulypart of a way of life and are adhered to simul-taneously, any form of fundamentalism or fa-naticism is necessarily excluded.


A DIRECTION OF DEVELOPMENT IN EACH AREAAs Scouting’s principles give direction to thedevelopment of the young person, the princi-ples are also reflected in what Scouting seeksto help young people to achieve in each ofthe areas of development, i.e. physical, intel-lectual, emotional, social and spiritual:

Physical:Developing the ability to:

• coordinate one’s movements and thoughtprocesses (psycho-motor skills);

• take responsibility for the growth, function-ing and health of one’s body;

• come to terms with one’s physical limita-tions.

Intellectual:Developing the ability to:

• pursue interests, solve problems and adaptto situations in a relevant way through effec-tive information management, creative think-ing and intuition;

• perceive patterns, connections and relation-ships between phenomena, events, ideas, etc;

• develop receptivity to other perspectives ofreality (e.g. understanding different ways oflooking at things; understanding cultural, reli-gious, age, gender-related standpoints, etc.);

• extract meaning from one’s experiences;

• judge things for oneself, to think throughthe implications of one’s decisions and actions,and to retain one’s own free will.

Emotional:

Developing the ability to:

• acknowledge, recognise and express feel-ings and emotions and to take responsibilityfor managing these in daily life.

Social:


• listen and to express oneself effectively;

• accept other people as distinct human be-ings with equal rights;

• take into account the interdependence ofmankind, and of mankind and the naturalworld;

• cooperate, to support and to lead;

• take an active and constructive role in soci-ety and contribute towards a better quality oflife for all;

• foster authentic relationships and an inter-cultural awareness, overcoming prejudice anddiscrimination;

• adhere to common rules out of one’s ownfree will.

Spiritual:


• acknowledge and explore a dimension be-yond mankind;

• explore the spiritual heritage of one’s com-munity;

• understand the beliefs, practices and cus-toms of other world religions;

• integrate spiritual values into one’s daily lifeand in the global direction of one’s develop-ment towards a higher and more unified stateof consciousness.

The abilities listed are not exhaustive, but pro-vide the basis on which national Scout asso-ciations can develop concrete educational ob-jectives which take into account the needs ofyoung people at various stages of develop-ment within a specific socio-cultural environ-ment.

As the areas of development reflect dimen-sions of the whole personality, in a real per-son the abilities listed depend upon or involvedevelopment in more than one area. It is thewell-balanced and harmonious developmentof the whole personality towards greater au-tonomy, solidarity, responsibility and commit-ment that would describe what Baden-Powellcalled a person of “character”.


WHAT IS SCOUTING’SAPPROACH TO

EDUCATION?

Scouting’s approach to education has to becoherent with what it seeks to achieve. Hereagain, it is the principles, the fundamentalbeliefs on which Scouting is founded, thatguide its educational approach. Thus, Scout-ing’s approach to education could be describedas being person-centred, community-relatedand spiritually-oriented.

Person-centred

Scouting’s approach is person-centred in thesense that:

• Scouting accepts each young person as heor she is - a unique human being with his orher own personal background and experienceof life thus far, variations in needs, capacities,interests and pace of development.

It recognises the uniqueness of each personthrough:

- respecting each person’s free will to decideto join Scouting or not;

- proposing a framework of self-education (i.e.as Baden-Powell described it: “education fromwithin”, as opposed to “instruction from with-out”);

- inviting each young person to develop tothe best of that person’s ability (“doing one’sbest”). There is therefore no comparison ofachievement between young people;

- the flexibility of Scouting’s educational sys-tem which enables each young person to de-velop in the way which is most relevant tohim or her through:

- translating the general educational ob-jectives proposed for the age section intoa set of personalised objectives, with helpfrom the adult leader;

- progressing through pursuing his or herinterests and exploring his or her con-cerns;

- developing at his or her own pace. Theapproach takes into account that devel-opment does not take place at the samepace in each dimension, nor does it takeplace in a constant surge forward. Thereare no absolute deadlines.

• Scouting’s approach is also person-centredin the sense that it seeks to help each youngperson to develop his or her whole selfthrough:


- educational objectives which cover knowl-edge, skills and attitudes in each of the di-mensions of the human personality;

- a multi-faceted method which emphasisespersonal experience (as opposed to, for ex-ample, just intellectual understanding);

- many, varied opportunities for experiences,spread over time, likely to contribute to ayoung person’s development.

Community-related

Scouting’s approach is community-related inthe sense that:

• the very goals that it pursues, i.e. to helpyoung people to live and develop as ever moreautonomous, supportive, responsible and com-mitted individuals are necessary for the longterm development of society;

• it seeks to help each young person to rec-ognise him or herself as a part of a whole,i.e. the world in which he or she lives. It doesso through:

- emphasising the development of construc-tive relationships with others - young peopleand adults - based on mutual respect;

- offering young people the experience of amicro-society, based on a democratic way oflife, taking into account the needs and inter-ests of all;

- promoting a sense of belonging in youngpeople - to their Scout unit and to their local,national and international community;

- offering varied opportunities for young peo-ple to interact with, and make a meaningfulcontribution to, the world of which they are apart (local, national and international commu-nity, natural, cultural and spiritual environment,etc.);

- helping young people to adapt constructivelyto changes in society and to cope effectivelywith issues that they face or are likely to face.

Spiritually-oriented

Scouting’s approach is spiritually-oriented inthe sense that it seeks, through everything thatit proposes, to help young people to:

• look beyond the material world in search ofa Spiritual Reality;

• to discover for themselves those values whichgive meaning to life;

• continuously strive to put into practice thosevalues in the way in which one lives one’slife.

Of course, however ambitious what Scoutingseeks to achieve may be, and however com-prehensive its educational approach, it cannothelp young people to develop without the righteducational tools, and thus we come to theScout Method.


WHAT IS THE SCOUTMETHOD?

“Scouting is a medicine composed ofvarious ingredients and, unless they aremixed in their proper proportions accord-ing to the prescription, the users must notblame the doctor if the effects on thepatient are unsatisfactory.”

- Baden-Powell, Jamboree, 1922.

Taken individually, many of these educationaltools are used in other forms of education -working in teams on projects, for example. InScouting, however, these different tools are re-ferred to as elements of the Scout Method - aseach one is only one part of the whole. Thefact that all of these elements form a wholeand are used as a system is part of what makesScouting unique.

A SYSTEM OF EDUCATIONAL ELEMENTS

The fact that Scouting’s method is referred toas the Scout Method (capital “M”) is because itis composed of several different educationaltools. These are: a law and promise, learningby doing, a team system, a symbolic frame-work, personal progression, nature and adultsupport.

THE SCOUT METHOD

ADULTSUPPORT

NATURE

PERSONALPROGRESSION

LAW &PROMISE

LEARNINGBY DOING

SYMBOLICFRAMEWORK

TEAMSYSTEM


In the sense used here, a system could be de-scribed as a network of elements in which eachelement:

• has a specific function;

• interacts with the other elements so as toreinforce the effectiveness of each one;

• contributes to the overall purpose to beachieved - and therefore must be present.

An important characteristic of a system is thesynergy that is created - in other words theeffects of a system are greater than the sum-total of the effects of its parts.

The same is true of the Scout Method. Each ofthe elements has an educational function; eachelement complements the impact of the oth-ers. If any of the elements is missing or is notbeing used as intended, then the system as awhole cannot serve its original purpose - theprogressive, holistic development of the youngperson. We cannot, therefore, apply certain el-ements and disregard others, nor can we useany of them in a way which is not consistentwith Scouting’s purpose and principles.

The Scout Method is designed to stimulate thedevelopment of young people throughout theage range that Scouting serves. This means thatthe educational function of each of the ele-ments and the way in which they work to-gether as a system are just as valid and effec-

tive when working with young people in thejunior age section as they are when workingwith young people in the senior age section.

Evidently, however, the way in which the ele-ments are applied (i.e. the way in which theeducational “tools” are intended to be used)needs to reflect the maturity of the young peo-ple in the various age sections.

Finally, it would be unrealistic to imagine thateach element of the Scout Method can be inthe foreground during every activity that theyoung people take part in. Young people can-not physically be in nature, for example, whilethey are performing a puppet show for sickchildren in a hospital in town. However, theelement of nature could still be present, albeitin the background - for example by taking timeto walk through a park on the way back or byusing recycled materials to make the puppets.

A NATURAL SYSTEM OF PROGRESSIVE SELF-EDUCATION

The Scout Method is a system of progressiveself-education. It is intended to help eachyoung person to use and develop his or hercapacities and interests, building on what hasalready been gained; to find constructive waysof meeting needs at different stages of devel-opment; and to open doors to further stages

of personal development at the young per-son’s own pace.

The Scout Method provides an educationalframework based upon how young peopledevelop naturally. It provides an environmentwhich responds to their need for action, chal-lenge and adventure; their desire to explore,experiment, and discover; their natural capac-ity for inventiveness and resourcefulness; theneed to feel acknowledged, respected andappreciated as individuals; their need for closesupportive relationships; their capacity for ide-alism and their need to make sense of theworld; and so on.

At the same time, the Scout Method offers away of life which channels their energy in away which enables them to experience beingautonomous, supportive, responsible and com-mitted straight away, to the extent of their cur-rent capacities, while helping them to progres-sively develop their capacities in these direc-tions in a holistic, balanced and attractive way.


THE SCOUT LAW ANDPROMISE

The Scout law and promise are considered asone element of the Scout Method because theyare closely linked. However, as their specificeducational functions differ, they are treatedas separate items in this chapter.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

A personal code of living

By trying to reflect the code of living moreoften in a young person’s daily life and in thegrowing number of new situations which ayoung person encounters, the young personis in fact developing him or herself.

As this code of living is based on the princi-ples of Scouting (and thus on the values un-derlying Scouting), it guides the direction ofthe young person’s development towards apersonal exploration of these values. This codeof living is therefore personal, related to eachperson’s development.

THE SCOUT LAWWHAT IS IT?

The Scout law is a code of living based onScouting’s principles. It is a personal code ofliving in that it serves as a reference, guidingthe way in which each member of the Move-ment lives his or her life today, and guidingthe direction of development for tomorrow. Itis also a collective code of living in that it isthe basis on which the Scout unit functions.The Scout law is therefore at the heart of theScout Method.

WHAT IS IT INTENDED TO DO?

As a concrete personal and collective code ofliving, the Scout law provides a simple way ofhelping each young person to become famil-iar with what Scouting seeks to help him orher to achieve and to discover the meaning ofthe various aspects of this personal and col-lective code of living through experiencing itin practice. Ultimately, the Scout law can serveas a reference in the subsequent developmentof a young person’s value system.

“Is it possible to devise a form ofeducation which might make itpossible to avoid conflicts or resolvethem peacefully by developing respectfor other people, their cultures andtheir spiritual values?”

- ”Learning: The Treasure Within”, Report to UNESCO of theInternational Commission on Education for the Twenty-firstCentury, 1996.


A collective code of living

In addition to being a personal code of living,the Scout law is also a collective code of liv-ing. It therefore serves as the law of a micro-society of young people in which each per-son has the same rights and duties towardshim or herself and others.

As the Scout law is the basis on which theirsmall community is founded and operates, theyoung people are exposed to a way of livingwith others which is democratic, respectful ofeach person and which promotes a sense ofbelonging, sharing, solidarity and cooperation.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS FORPROGRAMME DELIVERY?

Preparing adults for their work with youngpeople at local level should involve opportu-nities for them to explore the values underly-ing the Scout law and how this code of livingtranslates into their everyday work with theyoung people. This would include examiningthe kinds of relationships to be promoted, theimplications of the Scout law on the way inwhich the group should function, etc. For ex-ample, any practice that could be potentiallyhumiliating would not be consistent with re-specting the dignity of others.

“The boy is not governed by DON’T, butled on by DO.

The Scout Law is devised as a guide tohis actions, rather than as repressive ofhis faults.”

- “Aids to Scoutmastership”, Baden-Powell, World Brotherhoodedition, 1944.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS FORPROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT?

From an educational point of view, the Scoutlaw needs:

• to express the qualities of a person wholives according to Scouting’s principles3;

• to be expressed in everyday language thatis appropriate to the culture in which the na-tional Scout association operates and to thelevel of maturity of the young people con-cerned, i.e. very simple for the younger agegroups, and formulated in a slightly more ma-ture way for the next age group, and so on;

• to be formulated so as to be relevant, inspi-rational and attractive to young people. It there-fore needs to be expressed in positive terms,i.e. “A Scout is” as opposed to “A Scout is not”;

• to be sufficiently short so as to be easilyremembered - it is not intended to be a long,exhaustive list.

3 In order to ensure the unity of the Scout Movement, the Scout law andpromise formulated by each national Scout association is subject toapproval by the World Scout Committee, through its ConstitutionsCommittee.


WHAT ARE SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS FORPROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION?

While its function as an educational tool mayseem quite complex, it is not difficult to applyin everyday life with a group of young peo-ple.

The Scout law is deliberately phrased in sim-ple, everyday terms, often referring to quali-ties, so that each young person can easily un-derstand what is meant and can do his or herbest to reflect these in everyday life.

As the Scout law is a personal code of livingand a collective one, it needs to be the foun-dation on which the Scout unit is structuredand operates if the young people are to behelped to discover for themselves the valueson which it is based. Concretely, the Scoutlaw translates into the rules of the group: therights and duties of each member, the sharingof responsibilities, decision-making processes,conflict management, and so on.

Young people should be involved as much aspossible, and in ways appropriate to their levelof development, in establishing the rules ofthe group. For one thing, this helps them todeepen their understanding of the Scout lawand, for another, young people have much lessdifficulty in accepting, even enforcing, rules

that they have contributed to establishing. Evi-dently, the adult leader needs to ensure thatrules concerning safety measures, etc., are in-cluded.

The Scout law provides an excellent evalua-tion tool, both in terms of bringing out theconnections between the degree to which thecode of living was adhered to and what wentwell or badly with activities, camps, projects,group life, etc., and what could be improved;and in terms of a personal evaluation of theextent to which each young person feels heor she has made progress in reflecting thequalities.

When a young person breaks a rule, he or sheshould be encouraged to reflect on whateverconsequences it may have caused. The pur-

pose is not to make the young person feelterrible, but to understand and, if possible, toremedy the situation.

The code of living applies to both adults andyoung people. The code of living is not a setof rules which apply only to young peoplebecause “they have got to respect rules”. Thecode of living reflects basic ethical principlesor values which Scouting believes are valid inlife in general. If the adults do not reflect thecode of living, why should the young people?


THE SCOUT PROMISE

WHAT IS IT?

The Scout promise is a pledge that every youngperson makes before a group of peers whenhe or she chooses to join the Movement. Bymaking the Scout promise, the young personacknowledges that he or she is familiar withthe Scout law and makes a personal commit-ment to do his or her best to live according tothis code of living.


Through the promise, the young person ac-cepts Scouting’s invitation to develop by mak-ing a voluntary decision to accept the Scoutlaw and to assume the responsibility of thatdecision through personal effort. Making thepromise is the first symbolic step in the proc-ess of self-education. Making the promise doesnot imply that the young person must haveproved to be a “perfect” Scout. It is a startingpoint, not the finishing line.

The fact of promising to “do one’s best” refersto making a personal effort to the extent ofthe young person’s capacity. From an educa-tional perspective, the effort is as important asthe achievement of the objective. The effort isa personal one, and progress can only be evalu-

ated in terms of how the young person wasbefore.

By making the promise in front of peers, theyoung person makes his or her commitmentpublic. This not only makes the personal com-mitment “official”, it also symbolises a socialcommitment to the others in the group. Bytheir presence, the others in the group showthat they accept him or her as a member.


The young people make the Scout promiseupon entering each new age section. The factof doing so is a symbolic commitment to em-bark on a new phase in the voyage of devel-opment and to share the way of life inherentin the Scout law with a new group of people.The wording of the promise and law there-fore needs to reflect the progression in thematurity of the young people from one agesection to the next.

For the law and promise to fulfil their educa-tional functions, the young people that theScout association addresses need to have de-veloped the capacities to understand and toagree to do their best to adhere to a code ofliving. In other words there is a minimum levelof maturity below which a child is unable to

voluntarily agree with a code of living if thechild is unable to think beyond his or her ownimmediate needs and desires and does not yetdistinguish him or herself from other peoplewith their own needs and desires. By the sametoken, the kind of social interaction requiredfor teamwork cannot take place either - andthus the Scout Method cannot function.

The minimum level of maturity required forthe Scout law and promise (and, indeed, forthe entire Method to function as a whole) isan essential point to bear in mind when a Scoutassociation is considering the minimum age atwhich a young person may join the Movement.


Preparing adult leaders in this respect involvesemphasising the educational function of theScout promise. A key aspect in this respectconcerns the concept, and implications, of“doing one’s best”. As this concept is closelylinked to personal progression, it is discussedin further detail in the chapter on this aspectof the Scout Method.



The way of explaining the promise to theyoung people requires attention. They needto understand the implications of making apromise - that they are giving their word andthat they are giving their word to do their per-sonal best. It should therefore be presented asan important act, but not something that theyneed to feel apprehensive about.

Another factor to be borne in mind concernswhen a young person should make the Scoutpromise. Evidently, he or she will need to havehad time to become familiar with the Scoutlaw and its practical application in the group(i.e. that he or she will be expected to makean effort to develop and to adhere to thegroup’s code of living), and to decide whetheror not he or she wishes to formally join Scout-ing.

From a young person’s perspective, makingthe Scout promise is not simply about whetherthe code of living seems reasonable or not.Doing so is also a decision to continue to takepart in activities with the young people thathe or she has come to know. External factorsapart (schoolwork, other interests, etc.),whether a young person decides to make thepromise or not will therefore also depend on

how interesting the activities seem and, espe-cially, on the extent to which the young per-son feels integrated in the group. On the whole,adolescents are likely to want more time thanpre-adolescents to make up their minds.

At the same time, from an educational per-spective, a balance needs to be struck betweengiving the young person time to make up hisor her mind, and the need for the real educa-tional process to start. Until a young personmakes the Scout promise, he or she is more or

less a visitor to Scouting and cannot experi-ence the richness of what Scouting can offer.In addition, the prolonged presence of “visi-tors” (i.e. those who simply turn up occasion-ally for activities) is disruptive for the youngpeople who are committed to Scouting, to thegroup’s projects and life together.

Making the promise is a personal act of com-mitment. The adult leader’s task, therefore, isto encourage the young person, but not toforce him or her before he or she is ready todo so, nor to withhold the right to make thepromise, nor to ignore the matter altogether.A simple way of encouraging the young peo-ple would be to propose several dates over aperiod of several months.

The adult leader needs to consider how tomake the moment of making the promise asignificant one for the young person - a smallceremony at the end of a camp, for example.


LEARNING BY DOING WHAT IS IT?Learning by doing means developing as a re-sult of first-hand experience - which, after all,is a very effective teacher!

Learning by doing:

• reflects Scouting’s active approach to edu-cation. In other words, young people arehelped to develop through opportunities forconcrete, “hands-on” experience as opposedto passively listening to a lecture or watchinga demonstration.

• applies to the way in which young peoplegain knowledge, skills and attitudes in eachof the areas of development and thus progresstowards their educational objectives. Learningby doing is thus not limited to “doing” in thesense of learning practical or manual skills.For example, young people learn the mean-ing of responsibility through taking on respon-sibility.

• reflects Scouting’s practical approach toeducation based on learning through the op-portunities for experiences that arise in thecourse of pursuing one’s interests and dealingwith everyday life. In other words, Scouts donot gain knowledge, skills and attitudes in anabstract context, divorced from reality. In Scout-ing, young people would not learn to sew for

“...It is important to provide childrenand young people with every opportu-nity for discovery and experiment -aesthetic, artistic, sporting, scientific,cultural and social.”

- “Learning: The Treasure Within”, Report to UNESCO of theInternational Commission on Education for the Twenty-FirstCentury, 1996.

“Self-education, that is, what a boylearns for himself, is what is going tostick by him and guide him later onin life, far more than anything that isimposed upon him through instruc-tion by a teacher.”

- “Scouting for Boys”, Baden-Powell, 26th edition, 1951.

The S

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the sake of knowing how to sew, but because,for example, they want to put on a play and wantto make their own costumes. Or, for example,


Scouts would not learn to manage conflict sim-ply through a specifically-designed activity, butthrough the natural process of sorting outwhatever disagreements arise in the group (ina manner which is consistent with the Scoutlaw!).


Learning by doing is a way of helping youngpeople to develop in all dimensions throughextracting what is personally significant fromeverything that they experience.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

As young people have a natural desire for ac-tion, challenge and adventure, Scouting chan-nels their energy and provides them with arich learning environment which encouragesthem to explore, experiment, discover and thusto develop. Learning by doing stimulates anactive approach to life, encourages young peo-ple to be actively involved in everything thataffects them, helps them to discover all of theircapacities and make constructive use of them,to take charge of their lives, and be actors, notspectators, in their community.

The motor which drives the educational expe-riences is the activities that the young peopletake part in.

In other words, it is the combination of expe-riencing a code of living, the difficulties andrewards of responsibility, the joys and tribula-tions in the relationships that develop withpeers and supportive adults, setting and striv-ing to reach personal and collective goals, etc.,all woven into progressively challenging ac-tivities that they find stimulating and usefulthat contributes to holistic and balanced de-velopment.

As the young people develop through a vastrange of experiences, opportunities for newand richer experiences come within reach.


In order to help young people to developthrough extracting what is personally signifi-cant from what they experience, Scouting mustprovide young people with opportunities forpotentially meaningful experiences.

A way of checking whether learning by doingis being used to its full potential would be toconsider the educational objectives for the agesection as a whole (knowledge, skills and atti-tudes in each of the development areas) andexamine to what extent young people reallydo have opportunities to progress towards theobjectives through first-hand experience. Forexample:

• If an educational objective concerns, say,the development of a sense of interdepend-ence, one could examine whether:

- the way in which the young people operatetogether during their activities really providesopportunities for them to contribute differenttalents, take on useful responsibilities, experi-ence the benefits of mutual support, etc;

- there is room for improvement in the kind ofcontact that young people have with their lo-


cal community so as to foster this sense ofinterdependence.

• Examining learning by doing from the per-spective of educational objectives can helpwhen seeking to help young people to copewith issues likely to affect them - unemploy-ment, drug abuse, etc. The first, automatic re-sponse by associations is often to provide in-formation and develop interesting activities tohelp young people to learn about the issue.

At the same time, Scouting can do much moreto help young people to cope effectively! Forexample, how are young people being helpedto develop a positive approach to life, to adaptto new situations, to use existing resources ina creative way, to take initiative, to developconstructive contact with others, etc?


Adult leaders need to have a thorough under-standing of how the Scout Method and thegroup’s operating structure aim to contributeto young people’s development, and how theway in which they are used influences the edu-cational experience that the young people de-rive from the activities that they take part in.

With appropriate preparation, this enables theadult leader to take advantage of the varietyof opportunities that may arise in the localcommunity, the young people’s ideas on whatthey want to do, particular needs that are ex-pressed, etc. - which cannot be anticipated atnational level - so as to offer young people arich educational experience that is really rel-evant to those particular young people at agiven time.


One implication of learning by doing is thatyoung people are encouraged to experiencethings first and draw conclusions from whatthey have experienced later. In practical terms,this has several implications for the adultleader:

• The adult leader does not need to explainthe educational objective of an activity. Notonly are the young people likely to be unin-terested, it would limit their spontaneity, lim-iting the experience to the confines of whatthey may imagine is being expected of them.

• On the other hand, verbalising their reac-tions, feelings, etc., afterwards helps them toreflect on the experience and to draw conclu-

sions. A quiet moment at the end of a meetingor camp can be used to evaluate in generalterms how the activity went and to encouragethe young people to express themselves. Theyoung people may perceive the experience indifferent ways, and may actually feel that whatthey have gained from the experience hasnothing to do with what was originally in-tended by the activity.

The purpose for the adult leader here is not toinsist on what they were “supposed” to havelearned, but simply to accompany them as theyreflect for themselves. The atmosphere needsto be constructive so that the young peopledo not feel afraid to speak. If needed, the codeof living can be recalled to help young peopleto reflect on their experience or simply to re-mind the young people that each person hasa right to express him or herself and that ifcomplaints are to be made, to describe theproblem and not to attack anyone personally.

• While the adult leader should gradually feelcomfortable with making use of whatever op-portunities arise to create an educational ex-perience, the activities must always respectScouting’s principles: all activities and the waythey are conducted must be constructive andnot destructive for anyone or anything, etc.


• Difficult decisions that arise for the adultleader include how far to allow a young per-son to experiment or make mistakes beforeintervening. While the adult leader should al-ways strive to make an activity successful, thesuccess or efficiency of the activity cannot beat the expense of learning experiences. Mak-ing mistakes is an inevitable part of the learn-ing process. However, through experiencinga mistake, a young person can better under-stand what, how and why something wentwrong and, perhaps, how to go about thingsdifferently next time!


THE TEAM SYSTEM (OR PATROL SYSTEM)

WHAT IS IT?

Young people have a natural tendency to formgroups of roughly the same age. The team sys-tem is a way of making use of this naturaltendency in order to provide an environmentin which young people enjoy being and inorder to channel the substantial influence thatpeers have on each other in a constructive di-rection.

What young people gain from living and work-ing together according to a code of living andthe relationships that develop as a result of amultitude of shared adventures are as impor-tant in terms of their education as the activi-ties in which they take part.

In Scouting, young people of roughly the sameage operate in small groups of six to eightmembers. Each small group operates as a team.Within each team, the young people organisetheir life as a group and decide upon, organ-ise and carry out their activities. Each youngperson has a specific responsibility which heor she carries out for an agreed length of timewhich contributes to the life and welfare ofthe team and the success of their activities.

In each of the teams, one of the young peo-ple, acknowledged by the others to be the

“Scouting puts the boys into fraternitygangs which is their natural organisa-tion whether for games, mischief orloafing.”


leader, assumes a general coordinating role andconvenes meetings with the other members,giving each member the opportunity to takepart in the decisions and to be fully involvedin the life of the team.

Several of these teams (usually four to six) forma Scout unit, supported by an adult leader andadult assistants. The Scout unit is managed bya council involving the team leaders and theadult leader.

Although the adult leaders are not membersof the teams, they are nonetheless in close con-tact with each of the teams and with eachyoung person.

While the team is the basic grouping in whichthe young people operate, the young peopleare also part of the Scout unit as a whole. Dur-ing the Scout year, there are activities whichinvolve the whole of the Scout unit. These pro-vide opportunities for each team to contributeto the well-being of the Scout unit as a wholeand provide opportunities for the young peo-ple to get to know the others in the other teams.

All these elements combined form an organ-ised social structure and a democratic systemof self-government based on the Scout law that


Coordinating council

Team

Team Team

Team

Adult leader

Team leader

THE TEAM SYSTEM IS NOT:

A PYRAMIDAL STRUCTURE FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF ORDERS

THE TEAM SYSTEM IS:

A DEMOCRATIC PARTNERSHIP


The team system, based on the way in whichyoung people naturally organise themselvesas small groups, provides a framework withinwhich the young people can:

• develop their personal and collective capa-bilities through pooling and building on theirindividual skills, talents and experience andthrough the development of a mutually sup-portive team spirit;

4 The terms “patrol” and “troop” continue to exist in Scouting in manyparts of the world out of tradition, usually in connection with Scouting forthe 11-14 age section, with other terms used in the other age sections.The terms were adopted by Baden-Powell as an inspiration to the youngpeople of his day, probably as a result of his observation of the closecooperation in the achievement of objectives and the mutually supportiveattitude of small groups of men in the army.

Baden-Powell called the “patrol system” 4. Eachperson is involved in the government of thismini-society and has a share of the responsi-bility in ensuring the well-being of its mem-bers.

Despite the name, the “patrol system” was notin any way intended to reflect a military-styleline of command in which the adult leadergave orders to be carried out by the patrols.Indeed, if it were to operate in this way, itwould not be able to fulfil its educational func-tion.

“The patrol system leads each boy to seethat he has some individual responsibil-ity for the good of his Patrol. It leadseach Patrol to see that it has definiteresponsibility for the good of the Troop.”



• develop constructive relationships with otheryoung people and adults, based on mutualtrust, which strengthen over time as a result ofall the adventures shared together;

• learn to live according to a democratic formof self-government in partnership with adults.It allows young people to experience build-ing a consensus and resolving conflicts, ex-pressing themselves and listening to others, toexperience making decisions and accepting theconsequences, cooperating and sharing, tak-ing initiative and leading, taking on responsi-bility and following it through.

Thus, everything that young people experi-ence as a result of operating in teams can havea considerable impact on their development.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Initially, the only certain thing that the youngpeople have in common is their desire to takepart in activities. Through appropriately de-signed activities, each young person comes torealize that many of the experiences are onlypossible through a collective effort and so theyhave to organise themselves as a group (bothwithin the teams and as a Scout unit). Thus,the fact of needing to cooperate stimulates eachperson to play his or her part in making theirexperiences possible and enjoyable throughdeveloping and using his or her talents andskills.

Through taking part in this process with a smallgroup of people on a regular basis, they get toknow each other with their strengths and weak-nesses and a bond is created between them.This bond is important for several reasons:

• It contributes to a young person’s emotionaldevelopment through providing a sense ofbelonging, a feeling of being appreciated andthrough providing the basis for the kind ofclose friendships that young people may havedifficulty in developing elsewhere.

• A close-knit group provides a stimulatingatmosphere in which each young personmakes more of an effort to gain the skills andexperience needed for their activities and lifetogether. The greater the skills, talents and ex-perience the young people are able to pool asa team, the more opportunities are opened upfor challenging and meaningful experiences -for the group and for each person.

• This bond helps the young person to de-velop a deeper understanding of the meaningof responsibility and solidarity. Initially, ayoung person may carry out a task, turn up ata rendezvous or help out another memberbecause it is part of the “rules of the game”.When the young people grow to care about“When people work together on reward-

ing projects which take them out oftheir usual routine, differences andeven conflicts between individuals tendto fade into the background and some-times disappear. People derive a newidentity from such projects, so that it ispossible to go beyond individual rou-tines and highlight what people have incommon rather than the differencesbetween them.”

- “Learning: The Treasure Within”, Report to UNESCO of theInternational Commission on Education for the Twenty-firstCentury, 1996.


each other, the young person will carry out atask because he or she knows that the othersare counting on him or her and does not wantto let them down.

• The young person who seeks the approvalof peers observes the group’s reactions to hisor her attitudes and behaviour, and thus pro-vides a mirror effect. He or she can thus beencouraged to develop a greater self-aware-ness, often resulting in a change of attitudeand behaviour. For example, the timid are en-couraged to develop greater assertiveness; the“bossy” are made to sense the need to leaveroom for others.


The design of the team system needs to takeinto account that it involves:

A partnership between young people and theiradult leaders

The team system is not intended as a way foradult leaders to pass down their orders for theyoung people to execute. It is not intended,either, as a way for young people to simplyexpress their wishes and expect their adultleader to prepare everything for them.

It is intended as a partnership between theyoung people and their adult leader, based ondialogue and cooperation. The adult leader(and his or her adult assistants) are part of theScout unit but they are not members of theteams. The adults are part of the Scout unit inorder to fulfil a specific role, i.e. to help theyoung people to exercise and develop theircapacity for autonomy, solidarity, responsibil-ity and commitment, while guiding each youngperson towards his or her educational objec-tives.

Progressive self-government

The principle of young people’s participationin the government of their mini-society ap-plies throughout the age range that Scoutingserves.

Evidently, the sphere of matters on which theyoung people make decisions and the kindsof responsibilities that they undertake in themanagement of their teams and Scout unit asa whole will be linked to:

• their level of maturity. The level of involve-ment will therefore be different in a group of8-10 year-olds than in a group of 15-18 year-olds.

• their experience of this form of operation. AScout unit of 12-14 year-olds that has been

operating for a year or two may be able tohave a greater degree of involvement in run-ning their group than a newly constitutedgroup of older young people.

This means, therefore, that the design of theYouth Programme needs to reflect a progres-sion in terms of self-government in the oper-ating structure across the age sections. It willalso require some flexibility in terms of theextent of responsibilities for youth membersin newly constituted groups.

Generally, in the youngest age section the na-ture of the decisions to be taken by the youngpeople would be in the choice between sev-eral activities, for example. Responsibilitiesmight be to remember to bring refreshments,or materials needed for an activity. In the sub-sequent age section, decision-making could ex-tend to the theme of the summer camp, forexample, and responsibilities could includelooking after the team budget, being respon-sible for catering arrangements, compiling adiary of the team’s adventures, etc.

A democratic system

The team system is intended to help youngpeople to understand the concept of democ-racy through experiencing it in action.


Democracy in the Scout unit is based on:

• ensuring that the needs and interests of allare taken into account. This implies alwaysstriving to reach a consensus. If every deci-sion were to be subject to a majority vote, theneeds and interests of the minority would beignored;

• adherence to a commonly agreed set of rules,based on the Scout law;

• the fact that the Scout unit supports eachindividual, and each individual has a share ofresponsibility for ensuring that the Scout unitfunctions efficiently, and contributes towardsimproving it for the benefit of all.

Democracy in the Scout unit is thus a trulyparticipatory form of government. It does notinvolve establishing mini political parties, lob-bies, campaigning to win elections for posi-tions of power, or anything else of that nature.

Roles for each person - with real responsibility!

In the Scout unit, democracy starts in the teams- as they learn to dialogue and cooperate. Thedesign of the team system needs to ensurethat each person has an active role to play.These roles need to involve practical respon-sibilities - related to the needs and welfare of

ers and the adult leader to make decisionsconcerning the planning and organisation ofactivities, discuss difficulties, coordinate the af-fairs of the Scout unit, etc.

A Scout unit assembly

Meetings as a Scout unit need to be built intothe design of the operating structure so as toenable all of the young people and the adultleader to discuss and evaluate the success ofthe activities, but also to evaluate the life ofthe group, to build a consensus on what couldbe modified and, of course, to celebrateachievements.

Cohesion between all members of the Scout unit

In addition to the organisation of life withinthe teams, there is also the life of the Scoutunit to take into account! Summer camps, serv-ice projects, etc., involving the whole of theScout unit need to be built into the design,while still providing time and space for theteams to be together.

Opportunities to experience teamwork with othermembers of the Scout unit

In addition to the need to belong to a smallpermanent team, by early to mid-adolescenceyoung people tend to seek opportunities to

the teams. The roles need to be conceived soas to appeal to the young people and offerchallenge. The responsibilities must also beadapted to the level of development and ex-perience of the young people - i.e. less com-plex for the newcomers.

One of the roles is that of team leader. Thisyoung person’s responsibility is to coordinatethe team, help the team members to reach aconsensus on what they want to do and carryout their roles, represent them at the team lead-ers’ council, help coordinate activities involv-ing the whole Scout unit, etc. As it requiresmaturity and experience of how the Scout unitfunctions, this is a role designed for senioryouth members of the Scout unit.

The appointment of the team leaders is alsopart of the democratic process, based on whothe team members and the adult leaders con-sider is most capable of doing the job. It isimportant, however, that the role of team leaderis not the only challenging role for seniormembers.

A coordinating council

The team system involves a council whichneeds to meet on a regular basis. The councilis composed of the team leaders and the adultleader. It is an opportunity for the team lead-


expand their social horizons and to work withother young people on the more complex as-pects of their projects. Concretely, this simplyinvolves incorporating into the design of theprogramme opportunities for the young peo-ple to form temporary task forces.

A limited range of ages

The team system offers the greatest educationalbenefits when it:

• enables the teams to operate with a degreeof autonomy appropriate to the age group; and

• stimulates close relationships between themembers of the teams.

The major consideration in this respect is therange of ages within the teams.

Generally, the team system works best whenthere is approximately three to four years agedifference between the youngest and the old-est in a team.

This is due to the fact that the more maturemembers of the teams will stimulate the lessmature to develop. At the same time, the lessmature members stimulate the sense of respon-sibility in the senior members and give themopportunities to exercise responsibility in help-


The main areas of support to the adult leaderare to help him or her to:

• understand how this association of teams ismeant to function as a democratic system ofself-government. The adult leader needs to beable to help the teams to build a consensuson what they want to achieve (making surethat the needs and interests of all are takenequally into account), and to help them toorganise themselves;

• be able to enrich the young people’s ideasof what they want to do so as to provide op-portunities for the young people to progresstowards their educational objectives;

• observe and understand group dynamics andguide it in a constructive direction;

• be able to better judge what the young peo-ple are really capable of taking on by them-selves. This means ensuring physical and emo-tional security (of the young people and oth-ers); being able to overcome the temptationto make life easier by organising everythingoneself; not pushing the young people beyondwhat they can be reasonably be expected toundertake, etc.;

ing the younger members to progress, to inte-grate the code of living, to gain skills, to learnhow to work as a team, etc. The presence ofyounger members also helps the senior mem-bers to realize the changes in themselves sincethey were that age.

However, when the age range is greater thanthis, the educational impact of the team sys-tem becomes greatly reduced. This is becausethe difference in the level of maturity will beso great that the young people at either endof the age range will feel that they have littlein common with those at the other end - andthus will informally regroup according to theirnatural tendency to be with others of approxi-mately the same age!

For the national association, the fact of limit-ing the age range so as to enable the teamsystem to fulfil its educational function evi-dently has implications on the number of agesections that the association offers and/or onthe overall range of ages that it addresses.


• judge if and when to intervene, for exam-ple, in a conflict, or when to point out majorobstacles, etc.


In a newly constituted Scout unit

Typically, a new Scout unit is made up of rela-tively few young people who have simplycome together to give Scouting a try. The adultleader, in this case, will evidently have to takethe lead in proposing activities that interestthe young people and introduce the rules ofthe game - Scouting’s code of living.

Initially they may all want to operate as a sin-gle team for a while. There is no point in arti-ficially creating teams on their behalf. With timethey will eventually do so of their own accord- as after all, the team system is based on howyoung people operate naturally!

Helping newcomers to become integrated

In a group that has been operating for a while,and has well-established teams, helping new-comers to become integrated requires specialattention. By being invited to join a team, thenewcomer to Scouting is able to become fa-miliar with a small group of people first. Gradu-

ally, of course, the other faces will becomefamiliar, too.

It is within the team that the newcomer canmost easily become acquainted with thegroup’s code of living and to take on a re-sponsibility which contributes to group life,thereby immediately becoming a contributingmember of the team.

Establishing responsibilities within the teams

From the panoply of responsibilities requiredfor the teams to function, the adult leadershould guide each young person towards hisor her area of interest, while bearing in mindthe young person’s capacities. The task shouldnot be so complex as to lead to failure, yetshould be challenging enough to stimulate theyoung person.

The adult leader and the young people shouldagree on the length of time that the responsi-bilities are carried out by the same people inthe group. It should be long enough for theyoung person to have mastered the job and tohave gained something from the experience,but it is not a lifetime commitment! After theagreed length of time, the responsibilities canbe presented to the group again, so that eachperson can experience a new role.

While some responsibilities will be more com-plex than others to cater to the differing levelsof capacities and experience of the youngpeople, all of the responsibilities need to begiven value in the group. If the young peopleregularly try to avoid a particular kind of re-sponsibility or try to relegate it to an innocentnewcomer or, on the contrary always seem tobe vying for the same responsibility, then theremay be a problem underlying the situationwhich needs to be sorted out.

Making a meal together at the end of a day,for example, is not just to learn to cook; it is aconcrete contribution to the group which helpsthe young people to operate autonomously. Itis also an opportunity to have a chat abouthow the day went, to get to know each otherbetter after the heat of the action. The adultleader needs to make an effort to make theseroutine activities fun. They are only “chores”if that is the way they are conceived and pre-sented!

A particular responsibility - team leader

A particular responsibility which can have aneffect on group dynamics (either positively ornegatively) is that of the team leaders. Being ateam leader does not mean imposing one’swill. It is primarily listening to the team mem-


bers, helping them to understand how the teamsystem is meant to function, and coordinatingtheir operations as a team.

The team leaders need to have the maturity tocarry out the role and need to have experi-ence of how Scouting operates in the group.While the adult leader will have an influencein deciding which young people are ready totake on such a responsibility, the young peo-ple in the teams need to be associated in thedecision. This is because the team leader needsto be accepted as such by the other youngpeople. Inviting the young people to considerwho they think best matches a “job descrip-tion” of team leader is one way of associatingthem in the process.


WHAT IS IT?

A symbol could be described as somethingfamiliar which represents something more vastor abstract (e.g. an idea or concept). The de-sign of the Scout emblem, for example, whichis familiar to all of us in Scouting, is symbolicin nature - the reef knot which symbolises theunity of the Movement, and so on.

Symbols are often used to help communicateconcepts which may not be familiar to peoplethrough inviting them to think beyond the mostapparent meaning of things that are alreadyfamiliar to them. Symbols communicatethrough an appeal to the imagination and ex-perience - without the need for advanced pow-ers of reasoning or complex language.

In Scouting, a symbolic framework is a set ofelements which represent concepts whichScouting seeks to promote.

The very name of our Movement - Scouting -refers to a symbolic framework invented byits founder, Baden-Powell, and was intendedto appeal to boys in late childhood-early ado-lescence (the only age section - and gender -catered to at the time).

Originally, the name of Scouts came from sol-diers in the armed forces who went on re-

A SYMBOLICFRAMEWORK

connaissance trips ahead of the rest in orderto determine whether or not it was safe forthe others to follow. They survived throughtheir knowledge of nature and general re-sourcefulness.

However, it is important to remember that,despite his military background, Baden-Pow-ell sought to promote peace, tolerance andgoodwill:

“Our aim is to bring up the next generationas useful citizens with a wider outlook thanbefore and thereby to develop goodwill andpeace in the world through comradeship andcooperation, in place of the prevailing rivalrybetween classes, creeds and countries, whichhas done so much in the past to producewars and unrest.” 5

It is also important to remember that Scoutingbegan in a particular sociopolitical context(Britain, in the early 20th century) in which,as B-P knew, “Scouts” conjured up images ofadventure, courage and chivalry, close-knitgroups, developed powers of observation, re-sourcefulness and a simple healthy life in thegreat outdoors - all qualities which he soughtto promote:

5 Baden-Powell, Jamboree, 1922.

“Had we called it what is was, viz, a‘Society for the Propagation of MoralAttributes’, the boy would not exactlyhave rushed for it. But to call it Scout-ing and give him the chance of becom-ing an embryo Scout, was quite anotherpair of shoes.”

- ”Lessons from the ‘Varsity of Life”, Baden-Powell, 1933.

“The capacity for awareness of sensoryexperiences is critical to the develop-ment of meaning... Meaning derivesfrom a profoundly held relation to therevelatory power of the symbols. Yet thesymbol becomes an objectified ‘other’ ifit is not grounded in the senses.”

- “The Possible Human”, Jean Houston, J.P. Tarcher, 1982.


“By the term of “Scouting” is meant the workand attributes of backwoodsmen, explorers,hunters, seamen, airmen, pioneers andfrontiersmen.” 6

As Scouting began to cater to the needs ofyoung people outside of this original agegroup, the need became apparent to developother symbolic frameworks for them. The sym-bolic framework changes, therefore, from oneage section to the next so as to correspond tothe young people’s level of maturity and tofocus on the specific needs of the various agegroups.

At the same time, however, “Scouting” has re-mained the name of our Movement - and“Scout” is the generic term in English for ayouth member of any age. Whatever the termused in other languages, the symbolism re-mains faithful to the original intention (e.g.“Pathfinder”, or a person who “lights the way”).

In many countries, the symbolic framework ofScouts with their troop and patrols is still usedfor the late childhood-early adolescent agesection. However, whatever the symbolicframeworks used for the various age groups,“Scouting” remains as an overall “umbrella”

symbolic framework, thereby creating a linkbetween all members wherever they may be.

In order to cater to the needs of young peopleat different ages, each age section has a sym-bolic framework which is expressed as a cen-tral theme (inspired by children’s fables, my-thology, legendary heroes, a period in history,etc., or which may be totally invented). It in-volves a way of life which represents the per-sonal qualities and collective way of life whichScouting seeks to promote and focuses on themajor educational need in the educational pro-posal that characterises a given age group. Ex-amples of such needs are: learning to live to-gether for a young age group, adventure andsurvival for the subsequent age group, explor-ing new horizons, involvement in communityor environmental issues, etc.


A symbolic framework builds on young peo-ple’s natural capacity for imagination, adven-ture, creativity and inventiveness in a waywhich:

• stimulates their development in the variousdimensions;

• helps them to identify with the directions ofdevelopment and the values underlying Scout-ing;

• stimulates the development of a sense ofidentity;

• stimulates cohesiveness and solidarity withinthe group.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

As a young person grows up, the way in whichhe or she apprehends the world and situateshim or herself in it changes from being pre-dominantly based on the use of imagination -the “magical thinking” of childhood - to beingbased on the use of reason and personal ex-perience - the “logical thinking” of adulthood.

Young people frequently project themselvesinto an imaginary world in order to expandthe confines of the real world in which theylive and in order to explore and resolve vari-ous difficulties which then enable them topass on to a new stage of development. Thekinds of situations invented and the roles thatthe young people invent for themselves changeas new stages of development are reached andnew difficulties need to be sorted out.

The extent to which young people resort totheir imagination in this sense gradually de-creases as their sense of identity develops andtheir self-confidence in their ability to deal withsituations and to manage emotions increases.

6 “ Aids to Scoutmastership”, Baden-Powell, World Brotherhood edition,1944.


The purpose of a symbolic framework, there-fore, is not to maintain young people in anartificial world of make-believe. It is simply amatter of making use of this natural tool in away which helps them to enrich every daylife, to resolve a number of difficulties that theyface and move on to new stages of develop-ment. The symbolic framework, therefore,needs to gradually evolve, as young peopledo, from a world of make-believe to a morerealistic setting with a pinch of imaginationadded.

A symbolic framework can contribute to thedevelopment of young people in a number ofways. In terms of intellectual development, theuse of symbols and imagery can help youngpeople to grasp abstract concepts. In addition,by school-age onwards, school and family tendto give priority to stimulating the capacitiesnormally associated with the left brain (theability to analyse, reason, present ideas in astructured way, etc.), often at the expense ofthe creative, inventive right brain. Throughstimulating the imagination, a symbolic frame-work can help to keep alive the young per-son’s creative, inventive side. Figuring out howto cross an unexpected river in the middle ofthe woods, for example, has more chances ofsuccess when one can both analyse the situa-tion at hand and try to imagine what real ex-plorers would have done!

From the perspective of emotional develop-ment, a symbolic framework provides youngpeople with constructive opportunities to feelheroic, chivalrous, courageous, etc. Doing sois a way of developing their self-esteem and isa release from some of the emotional difficul-ties of growing up, such as the frustration ofthe dependency of childhood and early ado-lescence or feelings of inadequacy. It is notescaping from reality, rather it is a way of de-veloping the inner resources needed to dealwith it. Even as adults we do not lose thiscapacity, but we tend to deny it as being “child-ish” - and yet there is even a branch of psy-chotherapy that deals with helping adults torecover the capacity to envision overcomingsupposedly insurmountable problems!

Evidently, the fact of identifying with the per-sonal qualities and collective way of life in-herent in the symbolic framework can alsohave an impact on physical, social and spir-itual development.

The desire to be like the characters in the sym-bolic framework, and the fact of having devel-oped self-esteem as a result of it, can stimu-late the young people to overcome apprehen-sion about a physical challenge, or to takebetter care of their health, for example.

The symbolic framework can contribute tosocial development when all of the youngpeople identify with a close-knit way of lifeinherent in the symbolic framework and theunderlying elements of caring for others, re-sponsibility, etc.

Finally, a symbolic framework can open theway to spiritual development through the factthat it is based on the values inherent in Scout-ing’s principles. It can thus stimulate youngpeople to explore and examine themselves,their relationships and life in general in a waywhich goes beyond material, everyday life,transforming, for a time, the ordinary into theextraordinary, the impossible into the possi-ble, the unobservable into what may be sensedintuitively.



Whether a Scout association is in the processof developing symbolic frameworks for the firsttime, or whether a well-established Scout as-sociation is analysing the educational relevanceof one or more of its symbolic frameworkswithin the context of a programme review, thework involved evidently goes beyond pickinga children’s story or a period of history out ofthe blue and giving symbolic names to meet-ing places, teams or activities. It also goes be-yond simply substituting “Star Wars” for the“Jungle Book” in the hope of “modernising”the youth programme.

Some of the major points that need to be takeninto consideration are outlined below.

Focusing on an educational need

While a symbolic framework can contributeto development in all of the areas, a focus ona major educational need of young people ata certain age helps to ensure the relevanceand appeal to the various age groups and thusthe potential educational benefit. While thismajor educational need may vary accordingto society or culture, examples of needs gen-erally considered to be characteristic of par-ticular age groups are:

• Mid to late childhood - the age of socialisation

Mid-childhood is the age when young peoplebecome capable of logical reasoning and thusstart school. As a result, they start to spendmore time with other young people of theirown age outside of the family.

It is at this time that young people experimentwith establishing (and frequently changing!)rules for their games and interaction amongstpeers in general. Through a process of trialand error, the young people eventually de-velop a system of the rights and obligations ofthe members of the group. “That’s not fair, it’smy turn” can be heard all over the world.

It is through this process that the young peo-ple start to overcome the natural self-centredness of childhood and begin to under-stand the usefulness of cooperating, sharingand organising themselves as a group.

The use of make-believe is often a backdropto their games - the imaginary setting givespurpose to the games and a sense of commonpurpose between the “partners”.

Individually, many young people project them-selves into make-believe situation

scouting: an educational system - scouts...

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